[HoosierDaddy]

In the spirit of the Olympic games; with the knowledge of what humanity is capable of when setting aside petty differences; with the hope that our commonality and shared human hopes, dreams, and aspirations that we all share can overcome the physical, religious, and cultural differences, I begin this thread.

A place where we can hopefully set aside our common cynicism, and world-weariness, where we can briefly share our hopes for the world and why we wish them to be, I ask:

1. If you could change one thing about your country, what would it be?

2. If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?

I'm going to ask that we set aside our natural urge to criticize what an individuals wishes are, and to merely inquire as to why those aspirations are the ones that were chosen out of all the problems the world faces.

I'll begin.

1. If I could change one thing about my country:
The U.S. is notoriously heavy-handed, tends to view the world from our own many times xenophobic prisms. If I could change one thing about the U.S., it would be that the we extend a more friendly hand throughout the globe, build partnerships in furtherance of all of our common needs, such as global famine, poverty, extremism, and environmental chrises.

2. If I could change one thing about the world:
I would seek to balance some of the massive economic imbalances that exist within the world. I have no problem with earning what you have, but so many people across the world are never even given the chance that I am often disheartened by it.

Anybody else want to share?

[Gwynn ap Nudd]

1. If I could change one thing about my country:
Canadian governments (federal, provincial and municipal) would pay less attention to the individual and more to the greater good. Small groups of sentimentalists and NIMBYs need to be ignored when it comes to developments that benifit millions. The current status of closing major bridges for six hours or more while someone decides whether or not they really want to jump off the side should be included in that change.

2. If I could change one thing about the world:
I would have the energy standard changed so that all nations used predominantly or entirely renewable non-polluting energy generation.

[Morgoth]

1)
In Norway we have a very high standard of living throughout the country. You'll basically have to try very hard to end up on the street, or with minimum sallary (which is very very high compared to most of the rest of the world). We have very little crime percentage wise, a stable democracy, no unemployment pretty much and a surprisingly resilient economy even though we're on of the major exporters of oil and gas in the world. What I would like is for the norwegian population to stop being so tick headed and see this

2.
I would remove polarization in politics, culture and religion. I would want everyone to understand that other opinions are viable and acceptable even if they're not their opinions

[Shinrei]

1) The one thing I would change about the US, would be to have in place a full system of alternative energy sources (solar, hydro, geothermal, wind, switchgrass biofuels etc) already in place and providing a vast amount of our energy needs - combined with full compliance of all buildings and homes to basic energy efficiency.

This would do several things:
Establish the US as a leader and model of clean alternative energies for the world to follow.
Have us set up as a leading exporter of this technology.
And also give our scientists, engineers (and all humankind) more time to figure out how we're going to get an airplane in the air, continue to grow enough crops to feed the population, and continue to develop medicines and technology the way we do today without access to cheap oil.

-----------

Part 2 of this question requires more thought. I'll get back to this....

[Adjutant Stormy~]

1) If there were one thing I could change about the United States of America, it would be the thoroughly uncool levels of something, be it apathy, arrogance, stupidity, or plain ignorance in vast segments of the population that prevents logical handling of the problems that have arisen in the country. Not just unsolved problems, but stupid crap that goes on now, that EVERYONE signs on to, that is mindbogglingly shortsighted. More things than I could mention. I could (and have) filled pages upon pages.
2) I would wish the same thing on the world. The United States is hardly the only short-sighted, bullheaded, racist, shit-bag of a country on this planet, and you know it.

So I guess I wish for enlightenment.

[McLovin]

Shinrei no Shintai;368178 said:

1) The one thing I would change about the US, would be to have in place a full system of alternative energy sources (solar, hydro, geothermal, wind, switchgrass biofuels etc) already in place and providing a vast amount of our energy needs - combined with full compliance of all buildings and homes to basic energy efficiency.

Seconded. This is the most important issue for our long-term survival.

[frookenhauer]

1. My country. Needs to...

Shinrei no Shintai;368178 said:

1) The one thing I would change about the US, would be to have in place a full system of alternative energy sources (solar, hydro, geothermal, wind, switchgrass biofuels etc) already in place and providing a vast amount of our energy needs - combined with full compliance of all buildings and homes to basic energy efficiency.

Thirded, or I second the seconder, with some provisions, I am not 'one' with biofuels because zero CO2 emission is where we should be heading towards, whether its hydrogen fuel cells or battery power. All new buildings planned should include power generation and energy efficiency as part of the design, I'm thinking vertical solar towers and rooftop wind turbines. why stop at long term survival? lets turn the f**king ship around and do some f**king good to this planet for a change.

2. the world needs to...Act to raise the standard of living for everybody. No more people dying of starvation, lack of access to clean water and basic medicine. This is the 21st century, why the hell are we still in this position?

Adjutant Stormy;368205 said:

1)...apathy, arrogance, stupidity, or plain ignorance in vast segments of the population...that is mindbogglingly shortsighted...The United States is hardly the only short-sighted, bullheaded, racist, shit-bag of a country on this planet...

So I guess I wish for enlightenment.

So do I, brother. I would add to this by saying that to be able to begin fixing our problems, we need to stop being so insular and start seeing ourselves as one big tribe. I think that nationalism is not something we need to encourage. It aint us and them, there is only us.

[Shinrei]

frookenhauer;368242 said:

1. My country. Needs to...





So do I, brother. I would add to this by saying that to be able to begin fixing our problems, we need to stop being so insular and start seeing ourselves as one big tribe. I think that nationalism is not something we need to encourage. It aint us and them, there is only us.

I can't help but disagree with this, simply because I don't know how one could seek to accomplish this without killing off cultures of the world. How can we all identify ourselves as the same tribe when peoples of the world think about things differently, operate their lives/villages/nations differently, believe in different truths about reality and identify themselves as proud of their heritage and ancestry?

I get that we could dispense with Us vs. Them thinking by making people recognize that other ideas/peoples aren't "wrong", just different. I also agree with downplaying nationalism. Having lived in a foreign country, I've come to se how vapid and hurtful nationalism can be. This isn't to say you can't be proud of your country, but learning "my country right or wrong" is retarded is part of the enlightenment we could hopefully achieve. But the creation of some sort of homogenious one world tribe sounds like Mao's cultural revolution on a global scale.

I realize frookenhaur that this is probably not what you meant, but when you think deeply about this, you realize how problamatic it could be to balance cultural identity with some sort of world solidarity.

[frookenhauer]

Shinrei no Shintai;368258 said:

But the creation of some sort of homogenious one world tribe sounds like Mao's cultural revolution on a global scale.

I realize frookenhaur that this is probably not what you meant, but when you think deeply about this, you realize how problamatic it could be to balance cultural identity with some sort of world solidarity.

There definitely needs to be a revolution in how we perceive ourselves. Problematic? Damn near impossible without serious support from all major governments. It might well have to be a case of starting the process in schools and colleges, so at least the next generation will do what is right. A new syllabus devoted entirely to what is happening in the world, what problems are faced by others around the world and what is being done in each of those areas. At the very least this will be a lot less boring than English lit. Thats one of the first stages, education, what else can we add to this to bring about the new world conscious, a world identity?

Thanks to TV, the Internet (Rather loose an arm than loose the Internet, actually I wouldn't mind a bionic arm) and the big media companies have done a lot of good in terms of bringing people together because we are all generally watching, reading and talking about the same things. English is now the global language and I'm glad of the fact.

My use of the word tribe may have been the wrong way to put it, but the principle remains the same. Its time to homogenize humanity

[Shinrei]

So you are fine with linguistic imperialism then? English is in the process of supplanting native languages, causing language death (and cultures have a real time surviving the death of their language). Many Native American languages in the US are in deep trouble and many will likely disappear entirely as older generations die and fail to pass them on. I think that represents a genuine loss to the world.

I don't want to live in a world that loses the vibrancy of different cultures and languages. Sure, at the root DNA level we're all nearly the same, but it is the differences that make life and the world interesting and special.

[Terez]

Shinrei no Shintai;368301 said:

So you are fine with linguistic imperialism then? English is in the process of supplanting native languages, causing language death (and cultures have a real time surviving the death of their language). Many Native American languages in the US are in deep trouble and many will likely disappear entirely as older generations die and fail to pass them on. I think that represents a genuine loss to the world.

I agree that it's a loss to the world, but lingua franca is just too damned convenient.

[McLovin]

Everything that rises must converge, as Flannery O'Connor put it. Maybe the death of national cultures is not a product of direct revolution aka Mao, but the natural consequence of a world strung together by the Internet. Not good, not bad, just inevitable.

[frookenhauer]

Shinrei no Shintai;368301 said:

So you are fine with linguistic imperialism then?

Nice turn of phrase shin , but Terez couldn't have put it better: Lingua Franca, but its not just convenient, but a necessity.

You have a good point, but replacement of their original language with English is merely the final nail in the coffin, because the process would not be possible if their cultural identity was still strong. Powerful cultures will almost always assimilate weak ones, whether its at the point of a gun or by coca cola, all it takes is time. Call it cultural evolution, whatever, but nothing really disappears these days thanks to historians and also my dear friend, the Internet.

I do not think that having a universal language will affect our cultural diversity, I mean take England for example: Londeners have their cockney, Somerset has its tractors , Birmingham has its general Brumminess. They are separated by a hundred miles, but their way of speaking the same language and their modus operandi are dissimilar. I bet that this is true the world over. Having a common language is definitely the way forward.

[Shinrei]

Lingua Franca is fine. I think my one caveat is that international english needs to be its own entity in that we can't be silly and try to enforce some sort of standard english, since "whose standard" would be a problem. Not to mention there are more english speakers who are using at a second language than first language these days. Anyways, that aside, I am all for international communication and progress as a human race via joint effort. I just don't like the homogeneous idea.

As for #2, I was thinking about the following:

Obligatory study of culture, history and classics.

Historical study must be done without the selective editing that happens the world over. Japanese children shouldn't be shielded from the horrors their nation inflicted during WWII. Chinese texts must contain the atrocities committed by their nation. American children should learn about our treatment of the native americans etc. etc.
Exposure to history will improve our chances of avoiding such mistakes in the future.

Culture should be studied so we can better understand our own culture, as it might be viewed dispassionately from the outside, and study the roots and causes of culture in order to dispell the potential mysticism that gives rise to extreme nationalism.

Finally, classics should be read, understood and appreciated as they represent the brilliant minds of the past. For centuries this sort of study was the norm, but in modern times, reading anything that engages serious thought and reflection is not wide-spread enough.

[Terez]

Shinrei no Shintai;368362 said:

Finally, classics should be read, understood and appreciated as they represent the brilliant minds of the past. For centuries this sort of study was the norm, but in modern times, reading anything that engages serious thought and reflection is not wide-spread enough.

I've spent my morning trying to wrap my head around the concept of the Guidonian hexachord. God, it's counterintuitive to someone who's been brainwashed to think in octaves, but I've got to understand it if I want to understand how musical thought evolved between Pythagoras and Bach. Which of course I want to understand.

[frookenhauer]

Okay, maybe homogenising humanity is a bit radical .

So the new super syllabus stands at:

English, Maths, Science, Physical Education - Top Tier

World History, Geography, Culture, Ecology, Current Affairs, The Classics, Politics, Philosophy, Economics, Art, Ethics, Todays Issues... - 2nd tier

French, Religious Education, German, Spanish, Home Economics, Craft & Design... - Optional

I've obviously missed a few, but should school syllabus' begin to look like this? I think so.

[RodeoRanch]

Cheaper beer prices. Everywhere.

[frookenhauer]

RodeoRanch;368420 said:

Cheaper beer prices. Everywhere.

Damn skippy!

[relentless]

I'd just like a real high standard of education for everyone. And that includes political education so people stop with this partisan crap, and everyone ignores the pundits and talking points.

That would solve everything eventually... if people paid attention in school.

EDIT:

Quote

I can't help but disagree with this, simply because I don't know how one could seek to accomplish this without killing off cultures of the world.

I don't really see this happening. I mean Western Europe and the US have been intertwined to some extent for decades, yet they each still have their own culture. Also, there are plenty of different cultures within countries and it seems to work fine. Compare some southern hick in the US with a wall street stock broker yuppie. They have virtually nothing in common, yet they identify with the same "tribe".

In the end it won't be one culture taking over another... it'll be a fusion.

[tiam]

Ermm i know were not supposed to be cynical but id say my country

Political correctness.

The world would be renewable energy on a mass scale.

My cynical side would say could the planet couldnt support everyone to have clean water, sanitation, Enough food etc. Im not sure about the specifics of such a rash statement but with the world going to shit as it is trying to stretch the world as it is.